Tropical Important Plant Areas in the British Virgin Islands

The Caribbean is a hotspot for biodiversity, with a native flora of around 11,000 seed plant species and a high proportion of endemism. Within the Caribbean, the British Virgin Islands (BVI) along with the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico comprise a biogeographical unit known as the Puerto Rican Bank.

The BVI include around sixty islands and cays, the largest of which are Anegada, Tortola, Virgin Gorda and Jost Van Dyke. The islands are volcanic in origin and are hilly and rugged, with the exception of Anegada, which originated from a submerged limestone reef and is virtually flat with a maximum altitude of merely eight metres.

The islands were likely entirely covered in forests prior to the arrival of Europeans. Subsequent human activity has transformed large areas through habitat loss, overharvesting and the introduction of non-native species. Consequently, there is a great need to identify important areas that most need protection and conservation.

Tropical Important Plant Areas project launch

Tropical Important Plant Areas (TIPAs) are target sites for plant and habitat conservation, identified by the presence of threatened species, threatened habitats and/or high botanical richness. Although TIPAs are not legal designations, they can inform the protection and management of sites for biodiversity conservation.

The TIPAs project in BVI was launched last month at a workshop held at the J.R. O’Neal Botanical Gardens in Tortola. This two-year international collaboration aims to identify and conserve TIPAs in BVI. It is led by the Kew UKOTs team and staff from the National Parks Trust of the Virgin Islands (NPTVI). 

The main aims of the workshop were to:

The workshop was well attended and generated much interest and enthusiasm in the project from both stakeholders and collaborators.

Rare species’ range expansion

Following on from the workshop, the UKOTs team and collaborators embarked on field trips to previously unexplored areas on Tortola, Beef Island, Virgin Gorda, Great Tobago and Prickly Pear. The aim was to search for new, rare and threatened plants, and also to map the occurrence of invasive plant species. These expeditions discovered previously unknown populations of rare endemic species, enabling a more accurate calculation of their distribution and therefore their conservation status.

Some rare species (including Malpighia woodburyana, Metastelma anegadense, Croton fishlockii and Maytenus cymosa) were found to have a greater distribution than previously thought. Herbarium specimens, DNA samples and spirit specimens were collected from these new populations. Live plant material was also collected for propagation for ex-situ conservation in the J.R. O’Neal Botanical Gardens.

Capturing local knowledge on the medicinal use of native species 

On the second last day of our trip we were fortunate to meet Benjamin Peters, a local bush doctor in Tortola. He showed us a variety of different plants which he grows on his farm and enthusiastically explained what each was used for. Most of the plants are used to make teas to treat ailments such as high fevers, stomach aches and infections. He also brought along a liquid made of honey, mint (a species of Mentha), tamarind (Tamarindus indica) and a secret ingredient for treating sore throats. He persuaded us all to try a teaspoon of this mixture, which had quite a pleasant taste and reminded me a little of cough mixture. Unsurprisingly, for a few hours thereafter it relieved my rather persistent cough which had developed following a mild chest infection several days earlier. 

The next two years…

Future activities of the TIPAs project will include:

These activities will enable the production of TIPAs maps for BVI and the publication of a report. This will culminate in a regional workshop for the Puerto Rican Bank conservationists to review the TIPAs approach used in this project and to explore the possibility of other collaborations to identify TIPAs in the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and other Caribbean UKOTs.